Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-xfwgj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-24T23:09:05.200Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 13 - Novel Psychoactive Substances and Club Drugs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 November 2021

Get access

Summary

This chapter looks at ‘club drugs’ and novel psychoactive substances (NPSs; previously known as ‘legal highs’). It examines the acute and chronic adverse health effects of these drugs and focuses in particular on their effects on mental health, including their dependence liability and associated withdrawal symptoms. The chapter is based on the best available research evidence on NPSs, which is currently limited, but nonetheless broadly consistent. It also provides practical patient case studies to illustrate key clinical points. Overall, the evidence suggests that interventions aimed at NPSs must be based on the guiding principles and national guidelines used for the management of substance misuse in general. However, NPSs pose a number of additional challenges, which are highlighted in this chapter. This chapter also establishes a conceptual framework for NPSs, which is crucial in helping clinicians to navigate the hundreds of new substances detected in recent years while allowing them to drawn on their existing experience of substance misuse.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Independent Expert Working Group. Clinical Guidelines on Drug Misuse and Dependence, Update 2017: Drug Misuse and Dependence – UK Guidelines on Clinical Management. London: Department of Health; 2017.Google Scholar
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. World Drug Report 2018. United Nations publication, Sales No. E.20.XI.6; 2018.Google Scholar
European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction. European Drug Report: Trends and Developments. Lisbon, Portugal: EMCDDA; 2018.Google Scholar
Meader, N., Mdege, N., McCambridge, J. The public health evidence-base on novel psychoactive substance use: scoping review with narrative synthesis of selected bodies of evidence. Journal of Public Health. 2018; 40 (3): e303–e19.Google Scholar
Abdulrahim, D., Whiteley, C., Moncrieff, M., Bowden-Jones, O. Club Drug Use Among Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans (LGBT) People. London: Novel Psychoactive Treatment UK Network (NEPTUNE); 2016.Google Scholar
Karila, L., Billieux, J., Benyamina, A., Lançon, C., Cottencin, O. The effects and risks associated to mephedrone and methylone in humans: A review of the preliminary evidences. Brain Research Bulletin. 2016; 126: 61–7.Google Scholar
Abdulrahim, D., Bowden-Jones, O., on behalf of the NEPTUNE group. Harms of Synthetic Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists (SCRAs) and Their Management. London: Novel Psychoactive Treatment UK Network (NEPTUNE); 2016.Google Scholar
Winstock, A., Lynskey, M., Borschmann, R., Waldron, J. Risk of emergency medical treatment following consumption of cannabis or synthetic cannabinoids in a large global sample. Journal of Psychopharmacology. 2015; 29 (6): 698703.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zaurova, M., Hoffman, R. S., Vlahov, D., Manini, A. F. Clinical Effects of Synthetic Cannabinoid Receptor Agonists Compared with Marijuana in Emergency Department Patients with Acute Drug Overdose. Journal of Medical Toxicology. 2016; 12 (4): 335–40.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Abdulrahim, D., Bowden-Jones, O., on behalf of the NEPTUNE group. The Misuse of Synthetic Opioids: Harms and Clinical Management of Fentanyl, Fentanyl Analogues and Other Novel Synthetic Opioids: Information for Clinicians. London: NEPTUNE; 2018.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×